The invention concerns an ink roller for a hand-held labelling device, comprising a jacket-shaped ink receiving roller and an ink roller axis, wherein the ink receiving roller is disposed on the ink roller axis in such a fashion that the free ends of the ink roller axis project on both sides past the end faces of the ink receiving roller.
A hand-held labelling device having an ink roller of this type is disclosed in DE 29 04 256 A1. The ink receiving roller is thereby produced e.g. from a foamed material, the pores of which contain the ink for printing adhesive labels with the hand-held labelling device. The ink roller axis is normally produced from a substantially rigid plastic material. The free ends of the ink roller axis, which project past the end faces of the ink receiving roller, are used to rotatably dispose the ink roller in an ink roller holder, which is normally changed together with the ink roller when the ink in the ink receiving roller has been used up.
The hand-held labelling device has a label printing mechanism, which usually enables variable presetting of a sequence of symbols, e.g. a number and/or letter sequence, as a printing pattern. It also includes transport means by means of which the labels that are glued one after the other on a label carrier tape can be further transported to the printing mechanism through manual operation. The latter is normally realized by compressing two hand levers, which are formed as a handle, with one hand, thereby actuating a mechanism that successively conveys the labels to the printing mechanism and presses the printing patterns of the printing mechanism to the respectively foremost label on the label carrier tape such that the printing patterns print the desired number and/or letter sequence onto the label. The hand-held labelling device moreover has an ink roller holding system that presses the ink roller to the printing pattern when the hand levers are compressed, thereby transferring the ink contained in the ink receiving roller onto the printing patterns. The ink roller holding system has a rocker to the free end of which the ink roller holder is mounted together with the ink roller. When the printing patterns are pressed onto the label, the rocker is forced away from the printing patterns such that the ink roller is rolled over the printing patterns.
The person using the hand-held labelling device must then only transfer the foremost printed label to an object onto which it is to be glued. Towards this end, the hand-held labelling device normally has a pressing means formed as a roller, which is disposed on an end area of the hand-held labelling device facing away form the hand lever. The printed label is also further conveyed to this roller by means of the above-mentioned mechanism such that the label can be easily transferred to an object onto which the label is to be glued.
Most conventional ink rollers and hand-held labelling devices require several work steps for removing and inserting the ink roller to change the ink roller. The parts to be changed often consist of three components, i.e. the ink receiving roller itself, the ink roller holder and the ink roller axis. The free end of the rocker is often difficult to access, which aggravates the changing process. Since the ink of the ink receiving roller slightly stains, a change of the ink roller often entails soiling and dirtying.
It is the underlying purpose of the invention to provide an ink roller for a hand-held labelling device and a hand-held labelling device with an ink roller, which eliminate the disadvantages of prior art, in particular, wherein exchange of the ink roller is facilitated and more convenient for the user.